Shoe-tree.



J. G. GARDNER.

SHOE TREE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 191a.

- Patented May 5, 1914.

- manna anyt e-arrest ora ion.

JOHN G. GARDNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHOE-TREE.

Specification of Letters latent.

Fatemted May 5, 11.91%.

Application filed September 9, 1913. Serial No. 788,810

Shoe-Trees, of which the following is a' specification.

In the accompanying drawings to which reference is made and which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 illustrates my new and improved shoe or slipper tree inside of a slipper the latter and the toe piece of the tree being shown in sectional elevation. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation on the line 22 of Fig.1. Fig. 3 is a detailed plan view of the heel portion of the slipper, the heel section of the tree and the rear end of the intermediate section or handle of the heel piece of the tree, and Fi 4 is a sectional elevation showing a modification.

In the accompanying drawing A designates the heel section, B designates the toe section and C the intermediate section of the shoedree. The heel section A is secured to the intermediate section 0 by rivets 0 and is in the general form of a shoe horn, that is to say, it is concaved, tapering, and its rear end is rounded as shown at a, b, b, so that when the tree is placed in a slipper the heel section bears against the bottom of the slipper and also against both sides of the counter thus supporting the counter at its sides and furnishin a wide base of resistance to the action 0 the spring section C and avoiding any tendency of bulgving backward the counter of the slipper.

' tially in line with the intermediate section.

By this construction the heel section presses against bot-h sides of the counter of the shoe or slipper, each side taking its share, and no pressure comes against the back of the counter to bulge or deform it. When the shoe tree is removed from the shoe or slipper it is reversed in the hand and grasped by the intermediate section and used as a shoe horn for putting the shoe or slipper on the foot, and in this use the intermediate section is not only a most convenient handle but it gives a most convenient leverage for manipulating the device in putting on the shoe or slipper. The intermediate section C is a strip of spring metal and is by preference secured to the toe section B by means of rivet-s d and in this form as shown in Fig. 1 the toe section is stamped out otsheet metal. In the form shown in Fig. 2 the toe section B is made solid of wood or composition and the spring section C is secured to it by a hinge D held in place by one or more screws as clearly shown in the drawing. In both forms the section C serves as a tension device for spreading apart the sections A and B and also as a handle for using the rear section A as a shoe horn.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- A shoe former comprising a toe section, a shoe horn and flexible member connecting the toe section and the shoe horn, the latter being arranged to serve as a heel section and the flexible member being arranged to serve as a handle for the shoe horn, substantially as described.

JOHN G. GARDNER. Witnesses: ARTHUR P. TARBELL, M. B. GARDNER. 

